


Obsidian Dreams

by Siluri_Sanguine



Series: Through Dark Waters [1]
Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Dishonored 2 Spoilers, F/M, Low Chaos Emily Kaldwin, Medium Chaos (Dishonored), The Outsider was older than 15 when sacrificed, emsider romance, medium chaos Corvo, pre dishonored - death of the outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-16 01:34:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21499660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Siluri_Sanguine/pseuds/Siluri_Sanguine
Summary: Delilah had taken over Dunwall, Emily had fled the city on the Dreadful Wale with Meagan and Corvo is now frozen solid with magical Void stone within the throne room. The day could not have gone worse or so Corvo thought.Medium chaos Corvo. summary- Killed every weeper he came across knowing they would die a slow painful death otherwise. Helped survivors escape where he could. He branded the High Overseer and killed most of the Overseers ( he HATES the Abbey) but saved Curnow. Gave the twins to Slackjaw and gave Lady Boyle to her admirer. Shamed the Regent into his own treason. Spared Daud as he saw the same broken soul behind the eyes. Killed Granny Rags (never did her quests) and saved Slackjaw. Killed Havelock to spare Emily having to sign and witness his execution (Havelock had killed Pendelton and Martin and locked Emily in the Tower room). low enough chaos that Samuel still admired him( I just did this playthrough and it surprised me that Samuel was still happy with Corvo!)
Relationships: Corvo Attano & The Outsider, Emily Kaldwin/The Outsider
Series: Through Dark Waters [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550863
Comments: 28
Kudos: 34





	1. The start and end of a very bad day.

**Author's Note:**

> I always wondered if Corvo when they were trapped in obviously Void stone by Delilah. Some part of them was sent to the Void. If so then The Outsider must have been intrigued.
> 
> Based on the canon version of Dishonored 2 where Emily is the the protagonist.
> 
> Based on my headcannon of The Outsider being older than 15 when sacrificed. He was taken at 15, but the ritual was performed until he was 21.

* * *

Corvo opened his eyes, sat up and looked around. The Void. it was familiar in some ways, yet it also struck him as different. The Void looked colder now than those many years before. He was sitting on the stone floor yet the last thing he remembered was being in the throne room fighting the witch Delilah. He swore he had stabbed her, driven the sword deep through her chest, but somehow she had laughed, pulling the sword out and then, trapping him in some vine, before ripping the Outsider’s mark off his hand and attacking Emily and him. He remembered telling Emily to run, to flee and he pushed her then threw himself again at Delilah only to feel a sudden cold and then darkness.

Now he was in the Void.  
  
Was he dead then? Had Delilah killed him? Was his spirit now to wander the Void, punishment for all the deeds he had done those many years ago?

“Corvo, old friend. Do I even have to say it? You’ve lost another empress. But neither she nor you are dead, yet.”

The Outsider stood in front of him and held out his right hand for Corvo to take. Corvo gripped it and was pulled up to stand. Suddenly the Outsider vanished in a swirl of black mist to re-appear by Corvo’s side, this time pacing slowly back and forth, his arms gesturing as he spoke.

“Delilah was born a pawn, but now she’s got the throne. Fifteen years ago, the assassin Daud could have warned you about her, if you’d bothered to ask. But you were too busy for questions. Times have changed Corvo, and you haven’t been watching the dark corners of the world. Maybe living in a palace has made you soft? Your daughter is out there now, fighting to take back her throne. I wonder if she will follow in your footsteps and avoid a river of blood or allow the dark thoughts that always followed you to guide her in her vengeance? Either way it will be fascinating to watch once more.”

Vanishing again and then appearing sitting out on a obsidian stone outcrop, he looked down at Corvo,

“You though, dear Corvo, seem to be my guest here for now. Delilah has used her magic to trap you within the stone of the Void, your body is encased there as a statue to her triumph, but your spirit, I brought here.”

Corvo looked at the Outsider, then at his hand which was devoid of any Mark. He rubbed the bare skin and swallowed hard, looking up at the black eyed man, who also appeared different from the last time they had met. Suddenly he felt the heat return to his hand and the Mark reappeared, seared into his skin. The Outsider grimaced.

“I cant abide Delilah’s meddling in what’s mine. This is returned to you now.”  
  


Corvo glanced at his hand and the familiarity was comforting. But then a pang of worry came over him. He wasn’t there to protect his daughter, she was alone out there.

“Emily, is she safe?”  
  


Outsider eyebrows pinched together as he looked down and a slight smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

“She is. I am about to meet her after many, many years in fact. She probably doesn’t remember when we talked all those years ago in her dreams. When she was but a child hiding away in a tower on the banks of the river. To me the time passed is a blink of an eye but human minds are fragile things that easily forget trauma."

He vanished, appearing again in front of Corvo.

"You are free to wander my realm.”

With that he disappeared and Corvo was left alone on a huge expanse of obsidian like rock. Around him whales floated through the air and he studied this new version of the Void he was now seemingly stuck in. Where there had been dream like versions of the places he knew in a fantastical sky, now the Void seemed far more real and lonely. Light eminated from above but without an obvious source and an ethereal sound echoed in the wind, which he realised was whale song and one leviathan came close, studying the new comer with its large dark eyes before swimming away into the misty expanse.

These creatures he mused, really did journey here of their free will. Perhaps that was why their very bodies harnessed power the human world coveted so much. Even the great Sokolov could not work out how whale oil worked in the way it did. He wasn’t meant to know. No one was. Emily was doing her best to reduce whale oil consumption in the empire as she had read the reports of lower catches each month, the catch being smaller in size each time. She was very distasteful of Whaling in general, always tearing up when she saw one of their bodies on the whaling ships sailing past the Tower. The great ones that used to be seen on them, either hiding from sight or long since dead. Well here they were it seemed.  
  
He tested his hand and felt the familiar heat as his Blink ability glowed. He reached for a near by cliff edge and blinked to it. It felt good, his mana instantly refreshing. He looked from his vantage point and could see many islands in the distance, each with something different on it. It would take a lot of planning to reach them but The Outsider had given him free run to explore. But for now he didn’t want to go anywhere. He felt content simply lying against the edge of the cliff wall and watching as the leviathans swam around him, singing their sad song and lulling him to rest.

\--------------------

Corvo woke from his dreamless sleep to The Outsider sitting across from him, studying his form. His head tilted to the side as if trying to figure something out.

“Your daughter is much like you Corvo. The same fire, the same determination. But she has her mother’s will too. I offered her my mark. I wondered if she would accept it…”  
  
Corvo hung on those words, his daughter out there somewhere, as the Outsider leant forward as if to whisper in his ear.

”She did. Now she sails the waters around Karnaca in search of the people who helped Delilah to the throne. She’s after the Duke and the Crown Killer and she has help in the form of a woman with a destiny of her own. I wait to see if the displaced Empress pulls the city back from the brink or nudges it toward disaster with her actions.”  
  


Corvo bit at his lip, his Daughter was now tied to The Outsider like he was. But he knew the Mark would keep her safe too.

“Yes she has her mother’s strengths, I'd like to think mine too. I think she will prevail. I hope without the bloodshed I wrought.”  
  


The Outsider appeared sitting next to him.

“Now now Corvo, I watched you remember. You held back when you could have cut through enemies like a dance of death. You killed when you had to, used other means when offered. It was so interesting to see your choices. If only you could have killed Delilah that day. But she’s been so clever. I watched her pull herself up from the blood and filth, until she was in a position to steal from the wisest scholars in the empire. Survival and ambition, art and magic, with a cunning that makes fawning sycophants of those around her. All of it leading to what you saw at Dunwall Tower. Delilah’s playing the long game. She took all the abuse the world could throw at her and now she has a crown. But she wants a far greater prize than that.

The Outsider scowled as he said the last part as if the thought was distasteful to him.  
  


Corvo noticed the change in his expression. He was far more expressive than before. Corvo couldn’t help but ask.

“You don’t look or act the same as when I was last drawn into the Void. Your appearance, The Void itself, is different.”  
  


The Outsider’s face returned to it’s relaxed state, a slight quirk appearing at one corner of his mouth.

“The Void is the same as am I. We are unchanging. But you are here for real this time. Before it was your dream and your mind made me appear as you thought I would look. Tell me, was I The Great Leviathan?, or The Boy Touched with Darkness? The Great Deep One? These have all been descriptions of me in the past. You never looked scared of me when I spoke to you in your mind at shrines or in your dreams, so I doubt it was the last one.”  
  


Corvo smiled, it made sense. The Void did appear like some weird dream last time, a topsy turvy world and the Outsider appeared to always float like the deity Corvo thought he was.

“You looked a lot like you do now, though your face was angrier, more sullen. You spoke almost as if in a trance, monotonous. Your appearance rougher around the edges. The clothing you wore, I realise now was a lot like something I used to wear as a teenager in Serkonos. For what it’s worth you look better as you."  
  


The Outsider’s eyebrows raised just a fraction, before he looked away across the expanse of the Void.

“You are in the Void in essence now. I have manifested a body for you here so it is more comfortable in your wait. I think you would go mad if stuck in your spirit form. This is my true appearance as is the Voids. I’m glad I look _better_ to you.”  
  


Corvo looked in the direction the Outsider was facing and saw the whales catch his eye, swirling in some ancient dance. The Outsider’s eyes following their pattern.

“So Emily has help then. This other woman. She’s helping her.”  
  


The Outsider tilted his head slightly to look at Corvo,

“Meagan, yes. It’s her ship Emily is on. She has a past tied to your daughter in many ways. I wonder if she will share the truth with Emily. I expect it will depend on The Empress's actions in the coming weeks. ”  
  


Corvo sighed, feeling helpless once more.

“She’s not alone. Good. That’s something...I wish I was with her, helping her. I am, was The Royal Protector but as you kindly pointed out, this is the second time I’ve failed to stop an empress being deposed.”  
  


The outsider vanished to reappear behind Corvo, his hand placed on top of Corvo’s shoulder, his mouth inches away from Corvo’s ear.

“There was nothing you could have done. You planned for mundane attacks, assassinations of the sword and gun. If Delilah has been a normal woman, you would have done your duty and the event would have passed into history as another failed attempt on young Emily’s life. But you should have known by now that the Kaldwin Attano line has been touched by magic. Only a magical attack could threaten as it once did before, through Daud.”

Corvo dropped his head, resigned to his fate, stuck here unable to help. He felt the chilly breath of the Outsider still at his ear.

“She is not alone, she also has her mother with her. I gave her The Heart. Jessamine's spirit drifted through the Void after her death and found me. Pleaded to me to help you and your daughter. I told her I could but at a cost. She accepted that cost and part of her now guides Emily as it once did you. You don’t remember the Heart, I removed it from your world after you completed your task, to spare you the pain and to allow her to rest. But she would not leave, she had glimpsed visions of the future and knew she would be needed again. So she resided here, trapped in The Heart, knowing she would be called upon one last time. That is the strength and determination Emily has shown. Fear not Corvo.”

The breath was suddenly gone as the weight on his shoulder vanished too. Corvo was again alone with his thoughts and the song of the whales around him. He took a deep breath himself and let the worry flow off him. There was no point dwelling on something he had no control over.

\--------------------

The whales seemed to have gotten used to him being there and were even more curious now the Outsider has left him alone again. One came close to the edge of the island and Corvo reached out a hand, touching the warm skin that seemed to pulse with magical energy.

Feeling brave, he Blinked and landed on the whale’s back, gently crouching down and stroking the leviathan’s back.

“Easy, I mean no harm. Hmm, not like you can understand me. But I want to get to that island over there and this may be my only way. Now I just have to wait for another one of you to pass and maybe a little hopping across will get me there.”

The whale undulated slightly and then began to move towards the island Corvo had mentioned.

“Huh…you do understand me don’t you?” Corvo grinned as the whale carried him towards the new destination. He gently stepped off the creature’s back as it glided by the side of the new island before them and then moved off and away, twirling it’s body around and singing.

“This place is full of surprises.”

He looked around this new island and was stopped dead in his tracks. There in front of him was his own form trapped in stone. Was this an echo of the real world? He walked around the stone statue, noticing the shock in his own face now trapped behind the obsidian. His hard cold hand reaching towards something unseen. He remembered. He was reaching for Delilah, trying to grab her throat. He stood for a moment, before shaking his head and continued up the craggy flint like path the stone laid out. He came upon Delilah, frozen in time on the throne, surrounded by her supporters. The Duke he recognised, the others he didn’t. Especially the woman bound in bandages. These would be the people Emily would have to track down he surmised and realised he must have found where Emily was first brought into the Void. The Outsider must have brought her here and shown her these people.

That was a lot more than He had ever done for him. Emily had been brought into the Void directly even if she saw The Outsider whilst dreaming. It made Corvo uncomfortable, this attention the Outsider was showing his daughter.

He moved on, taking note of each of the accomplice’s faces. The Path narrowed and he had to climb, using Blink he reached the top easily and moved around a corner to an empty shrine like table. but it glowed pink instead of the usual blue or purple. It was too familiar and some memory slipped through. This must have held The Heart Of a Living Thing, now just The Heart as The Outsider called it. Jessamine had waited all these years knowing their daughter would hold The Heart. The sacrifice of being trapped within it, knowing she would be needed. His love for her welled in his throat and he brushed his hand over the purple cloth that swathed the shrine, then sat below it and pulled his arms around his bent knees, whispering to himself.

“Jessamine. If only I could hear you one more time. But knowing you are there with Emily now, guiding her, gives me comfort. I hope she is making you proud and not following in my bloody footsteps unless she absolutely has no other choice. I trained her to fight and she has others helping her. Watch over her my love.”

He swore he felt a hand touch his cheek but when he looked around there was no one there, just wisps of Void dust swirling and twinkling through the air. He smiled sadly and stood. At the edge of the cliff was a whale waiting patiently, it’s eye roving over the shrine and Corvo.

“Waiting to take me back huh? I guess I’ve seen everything here. Take me somewhere new.”


	2. Visions of another life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corvo witnesses Delilah's influence in the Void for the first time and catches a glimpse of Emily's struggle. The Outsider hints at his past.

* * *

It was a curious thing to soar through the Void on a back of a whale that moved through the air as if through water. They seemed weightless in the Void’s equivalent of air. A substance that Corvo could breath as much as these great beasts could swim through. It made Corvo's head hurt to think about it.

This part they travelled through was a vast expanse of small outcrops of rock that rose in silent explosions into the nothingness, columns of glistening obsidian that reminded him of the great pillars inside the old Karnaca palace, he once spent time at in his youth. Below them he could make out a twisting pathway of stone that made him curious as some pillars were strangled by vines of twisted petrified wood.  
  


“Can we go down there?” He whispered to the whale, who rumbled it’s reply and slowly started to descend towards the pathway, but halted it’s movement too far away for Corvo to blink onto the ground, as if unsure of the place.  
  


“You need to get a bit closer, I cant reach the ground, if you could……”

His words silenced as he spotted someone on the ground below. He knelt down and his eyes went wide. There was Emily scrambling up the pathway towards an archway of twisted roots. Corvo desperately wanted to jump down to see her, to tell her he was alright. But his thoughts were cut off when he spied another appearing in front of her. Delilah. Now he really needed to get down there and patted the whale’s back to get it to go closer, but the bull stubbornly refused.

All Corvo could do was watch as Delilah taunted Emily with spectral images of her life story. Telling her past as if it would excuse what she had done. Painted snapshots of a cruel life appeared on shimmering stone walls. Was Jessamine and her father really that cruel those years ago? Or was this Delilah’s twisted memory, putting blame onto someone else? Somehow he felt part of this must be the truth and it must hurt Emily to see. But Emily held her own, her face set into an imperious tautness she had learnt from her mother many years ago to hide her anger.

The bigger question though was how could Delilah bring others into the Void as The Outsider could? Was her magic that powerful? Was it her magic too, that made the Void appear this way? The twisted roots looked much like the vine that had trapped him briefly in the throne room. Her magic darkened the void as if draining it’s power.  
  


He watched as Delilah vanished and left Emily on her own. He studied Emily now, his daughter looked so sure of herself, focused on moving ahead and towards a portal that she disappeared into it. It gave him a great sense of pride that she wasn’t scared or at least didn’t appear to be. She was holding her own out there against what looked like desperate odds.  
  
Below the empty pathway that held the roots began to shiver and crack as if the very Void itself was trying to rid itself of Delilah’s influence. The roots that were embedded in the stone fell away into the nothingness below and the rock reformed into it’s usual shattered completeness, the sky even appeared to lighten somewhat as her influence was shaken loose. The whale now descended down allowing Corvo to at last jump to the ground, his landing heavy enough that he had to go into a crouch, his hands hitting the floor. As he lifted his head he was met with the boots of The Outsider almost touching his fingertips. 

The Void god crouched down and pointed behind him.

“Delilah is powerful and her story a long sordid affair. She’s sitting now on the throne in Dunwall Tower, surrounded by her loyal subjects of witches and corpses. She plans to build a perfect world with her reign but what is perfect to one, is catastrophe to another. Her ideas are as twisted as the vines she uses.”  
  


Corvo knelt back till he was upright and the Outsider followed his movements. Corvo studied The Outsider’s face which right now seemed to be a mix of disdain and amusement.

“Emily seems to be coping though, she kept her cool just now.”  
  


The Outsider smiled, a hint of teeth behind the lips.

“Our Dear Empress knows how to play Delilah’s game better than Delilah realises. The one committing acts of terrible slaughter, The Crown Killer, was a doctor named Hypatia who was under the control of a drug of her own creation. The Duke was compelling her to commit those acts, but clever Emily cured the good doctor and now she has another ally in Karnaca to add to her growing collection.”

“Huh that’s my girl. I’ve heard of Dr Hypatia. She has done good things for the silver miners in Karnaca. I’m glad she is able to help now.”

Corvo said with a grin. Some relief washed over him, knowing Emily was thinking things through. She could be hot headed, thinking with her heart, but she was always true to herself and her sense of justice.

“I think I’d like to stay here for a while if you don’t mind.” Corvo motioned with his hands across the shattered landscape.

“I don’t need to sleep or eat so I’d like to explore more and I seemed to have made some friends.” He looked up towards the whales that circled above.  
  


The Outsider followed his gaze and his eyebrows knitted together briefly as he strolled away from Corvo.

“They swim between realities as easily as you cross the road. They have seen things others have only dreamt of. The leviathans of the Void know a lost soul when they see one. They have had the company of one for 4000 years. You are new to them and they find you as fascinating as I do.”  
  


He vanished then and Corvo lifted his hand to reach for one of those rumbling giants above that spiralled down towards him, it’s great fin reaching out to brush Corvo’s fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see Delilah's use of a Void and the visible vines there,like a parasitical vine that drains life from the tree it grows on. She drains the Void's power to power herself, there by corrupting areas of the Void itself.
> 
> This is a short chapter but the next part needed it's own chapter.


	3. Where it all began

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corvo finds one the most ancient places within the Void and is told the twisted tale of The Outsider's origin.

* * *

Corvo laid down on the whale’s back as it swam through the void air, his hand drifting out to touch it’s side, feeling his mark sizzle with energy as it connected with the skin. The whales _were_ the void, he was certain of it now. Living breathing conduits of it’s magic and people were hunting them to extinction. The old tale of when the last whale is gone, the Void will consume the world, was a warning.

He sat up straight and watched as the whale he was on was joined by three others, even larger than she was, (he had determined this was a female) who watched the newcomer curiously. He smiled and even bowed to them, it did no harm to curry the Void conduit’s favours. The whale that was carrying him, came to a stop by a shadowy outcrop of obsidian and bellowed, her voice echoing in the mist. Corvo Blinked off her back and landed on the ground, stroking the whale's side in a thank you. She moved away to join with the other three that escorted her, though they never strayed far.

Corvo began to explore this new part of the Void. It was definitely darker here than elsewhere and something was very wrong about it. The same tortuous, petrified vines interwove with the obsidian stone, breaking through cracks and spearing shards high into the air. He touched one of the vines and it felt deathly cold, where as the obsidian always had a humming life to it. The whole area felt wrong but the whale had brought him here for a reason so he continued to explore. The vines ahead formed a canopy over him, blocking out any light, until Corvo was forced to clench his fist to make his Mark glow. He could see light further ahead so made his way towards it. The canopy opened onto a ruined scene. A petrified artists easel sat next to a stone plinth amongst what looked like a stone mockery of a gazebo.  
  


“This was Delilah’s first taste of the true Void after Daud trapped her within her painting.”

The Outsider spoke as he manifested in front of Corvo, walking past the easel to sit on the plinth. He brushed his hand over the stone and for a brief moment a painter’s palette and brushes appeared there before vanishing as he did. He reappeared standing in front of the easel as if admiring a painting only he could see.  
  


“She created her perfect retreat within her magical painting, a tiny dream like pocket of the Void all for herself. One where she wouldn’t be disturbed. She could create her masterpiece in private until the time was right.”

Then he phased to stand on top of the Gazebo, forcing Corvo to Blink up to meet him.

“She was already meddling with the Void then, so I gave Daud a little piece of information. Her Name. He cleverly found out what her plan was and foiled it. Did you know by doing so, he saved Emily’s life when she was a year into her reign? Self inflicted penance for what he did before, a personal redemption that no one will know about.”

The Outsider sat on the edge of the gazebo and let his legs swing slightly under him, Corvo joined him as he continued.

“Daud swapped the painting of Emily, the one Delilah planned to take over her young mind with, with the one of her retreat. She was sucked into that painting which cast her here. It killed her mortal body but her spirit lingered here instead of becoming the nothing it was meant to. But Delilah was never nothing. Her will alone kept her here and she wandered, learning the Void’s secrets. Now her power has corrupted this part of the Void. These vines are part of her magic that is fuelled by the Void itself.”  
  


Corvo blinked down to the ground as the Outsider watched him, he walked towards the stone easel and stroked his fingers down it.

“She is marked too isn’t she? Why give her the Mark if she has caused you so much grief?”  
  


Appearing next to him, the Outsider took Corvo’s Marked hand and rubbed his thumb over the symbols. They flared under his touch, burning slightly.

“She was younger when I first visited her. Her unique perspective on the world fascinated me, drew my attention to her. I was curious as always to see what she would do, which path she would choose that I had foreseen, for there were many. She chose the most ambitious and I give her credit for that determination. But now her ambition has become singular.”  
  


The Outsider dropped Corvo’s hand and let out a short breath before he vanished, a portal of light appearing next to Corvo, that he surmised the Outsider had created to get him to leave this place. There was something he was missing here or nearby but for now he would leave it be. He watched as the whales that had been circling swam away now they knew he could leave by another means. He stepped through the portal and had to shield his eyes from the brighter light that was the Void’s usual appearance. He realised he now stood in the same place he had first woken up.

“Should anything happen, you will appear here. This is your grounding, where you were brought into the Void.” The Outsider whispered as he stood next to Corvo.

Corvo spun around just as the Outsider vanished again.

“How is Emily!?” Corvo shouted into the nothing, waiting for the black eyed god to reappear. But nothing happened, no sign, no sound of the Void’s warden manifested. So Corvo sat on the jutting rock and put his head in his hands. It was true that time does indeed pass differently in the Void as Corvo felt he had spent minutes waiting when the Outsider appeared sitting next to him as if just replying.

“She was going to be merciful to a man named Kirin Jindosh, inventor of the clockwork soldiers you saw at Dunwall Tower, A genius sociopath that made music boxes that would make men weep and toys that would send a child to a life time in an asylum. When Emily saw what one of his machines did to his own mind, that he had intended to use on Sokolov, she snapped and killed him. The thought of his possible recovery and return to the malice he’d created was enough for her to drive her sword into his black heart.”  
  
”So she has taken life then, I see.” Corvo said with a sigh as he rubbed his marked hand.

“You forget she has signed many a death warrant you handed her. But yes this was the first taken by her own hand. She could have ended many more, but something or someone has always stayed her blade. Now she has Sokolov with her for what that’s worth, a new ally in a beloved doctor of the people and ended the life of one of Delilah’s accomplices. Her next mission will be most interesting as she’s after Delilah’s closest friend; Breanna Ashworth. I look forward to witnessing her choices.”

The Outsider vanished once more, leaving Corvo alone with this new information. Emily seemed to be doing well. She despised cruelty and it sounded like this Jindosh used it as a tool. No wonder she had killed him. Still it pained him that she had done it. Once you take a life, it changes you in some small way. He expected such a lot had happened in her life that this was just one more notch in her spirit.

Settling down to rest, his mana flagging, Corvo realised even though he was not truly here, the body The Outsider has created for his spirit needed as much rest as any organic one did in the normal world. He leant back and watched the whales above dance around. There seemed to be more and more each time he looked around, getting closer to him. Word if that was the right term, had gotten out that there was a new comer to the Void which must have been a rare occurrence to have gathered so much interest. His eyes closed to the sound of their song and he drifted off.

\-------------------

He woke to the sniffling sound of a whale so close to him, he could feel their breath on his skin. The big bull had settled next to the rock edge and was studying him with such curiosity. Corvo reached up and touched the whale’s cheek just under it’s eye and watched as the whale’s eye closed slowly, before it opened it again and lowered itself as if to allow Corvo to climb onto it’s back. It seemed he was being offered a ride. Not one to pass up an opportunity, Corvo Blinked onto the bull’s back and had to hold on as the whale surged forward, joined by six more of the grand leviathans.

The journey took them past the gnarled part of the void he had visited before and onward towards a glimmering source of light ahead. As they neared a new island that sat in the middle of this light source, Corvo could sense something unusual about it. This part of the Void seemed more ancient than anywhere else, as if the very essence of it held weight. The air felt colder but there was no wind at all. The stone itself looked like it was shattered from a central point, an explosion, frozen in time. The whale Corvo was on would not come close enough to the edge for him to step off, so he had to stretch his Blink as far as he could to land on the edge of the flat plateau.

In front of him, towards the eerie glowing light were many stone figures of robed hooded people all facing towards the light. Their heads bowed, Corvo could not make their faces out clearly but they all seemed to be in some form of worship. He made his way past this congregation up the slope and came upon the source of their adoration. A large flat altar with one lone hooded robed stone figure at the end of it, their arms raised above their heads, holding an unusual twin bladed knife as if to strike down onto what ever was once on the altar. The same twisted tree roots had taken hold here somewhat, so it obvious Delilah had been here too.

Corvo waited for the Outsider to appear, to explain this new place to him, but there was nothing but whispers and echoes. So he walked back down the slope, past the stone congregation to the edge and sat and waited.

“This place is ancient, it feels heavy as if a great event happened here and the echoes of it are still bouncing across the stone. Why did the whales bring me here?”

“Because this is the place where I was made.” Came the echoing voice of the Outsider, who sat not far away now, his right knee pulled up under one of his arms. He looked more vulnerable here, if I god could be vulnerable.

“This place, this crumbling island at the very edge of the Void. This island is special. It’s where 4000 years ago they slit my throat. It’s where my life ended and began again.”  
  


Corvo jumped up, The Outsider was created? He went over to be closer and the Outsider vanished, to appear standing next to the altar. Corvo quickly walked through the stone crowd and stood next to him.

“Believers who thought they could control the Void stole a fifteen year old vagrant boy from the streets, whose mother had died at the hands of his abusive father, performed arcane rituals for 6 years to determine if he was the one they had searched for, forced him to do things he didn't want to do, until he accepted his lot. In the Month of Darkness, they dressed him in dyed black clothes, put silver rings on his fingers and shaded his eyelids then led him here in the mortal world to a matching altar thrust out of the ground by heavy roots.”  
  


He re-materialised laying on the altar, his hands outstretched as if bound, mimicking what he went through before leaning up on one elbow and sitting on the altar edge.

“Right up until the end I thought I’d find a way to escape. I fought but the ropes only cut my fragile skin, so I went limp hoping for an escape. Then the knife touched my throat and I knew I’d waited too long. As my life ran out with my blood and the void ran in, I silently screamed until I closed my eyes for the last time. I opened my new eyes and saw everything as a god.”  
  


Corvo moved his hand forward to touch The Outsider’s shoulder, but the god vanished and appeared a little ahead perched on one of the strange giant vines that invaded this place.

"The first 500 years were torment. I returned the favour to those who created me, driving them to self inflicted death. They went gladly, their new god telling them to sacrifice themselves.They now serve the Void I felt nothing but contempt. They now serve the Void. I still do for those who try to summon me with sacrifice and torture. If only they knew. But then my curiosity grew and i began to watch the real world and what certain people would do if given a little power."

He stood then and began pacing back and forth in front of Corvo,

"Delilah found this place too. Some how she managed to draw from it, it changed her and that’s how she is able to visit the Void at will as well as draw others in now. She is part of me and the Void and I don’t like it.”  
  


Corvo had never seen The Outsider angry but there was a flash across his face of pure rage and frustration. For all his power, he could not remove this intrusion. His description of his sacrifice had been clinical, there was no emotion in his words at the vivid description of his death, except for the hint of contempt for those who had done the deed. But the mention of how Delilah has seen this place without his permission and how she had taken from it, that had been full of emotion.

“I’m so sorry for what happened to you. No child should go through that even if it was 4000 years ago. They made you a god but took away your life. This place is both sacred and profane and Delilah invaded it, stole from it and in some way assaulted you. No wonder you’re angry. But does this connect to the fact I couldn’t kill her back in the Tower? Is she a god now too?”  
  


The Outsider’s face scrunched up at the insinuation of that, then his lips curled into a smirk.

“Dear Emily is finding that out at this moment old friend. Delilah was brought back into your world through a ritual that tore a tiny hole in the world that the Void leaks into. It broke a good man called Aramis Stilton. Part of him is still breaking now, caught in that crack in time. I gave her the ability to see what came before, how one little change can affect reality now and how Delilah came to be what she is.”

He walked over to Corvo and placed his hand over the other’s neck, his cool skin making Corvo shiver slightly.

“Emily has been so clever again. Breanna Ashworth was using the Abbey’s Blind Sisters to direct a change of belief in the faithful through an arcane device Jindosh had made her. But Emily ripped her connection to the Void using that same device and in doing so, neutralised every single witch in the Royal Conservatory at the same time. A master stroke. Of course when the Abbey sweep in to contain the place, those witches will wish they had died. Emily even spoke to Delilah to inform her, Delilah was not pleased she had lost her closest confidant and her rather large coven in Karnaca too. Breanna even though she breathes, is dead to her now. I wonder how that makes Breanna feel?”  
  


Corvo looked closely at The Outsider’s face which still had that slight pained expression of earlier. To hear Emily had chosen such a clever way to neutralise her enemy and strike a heavy blow to Delilah, It made his heart swell with love.

"So she chose another non lethal route again, even if in the long run it might have been kinder to have killed Breanna, instead of what she probably suffering now. It seems a just punishment though. I'm so proud of her."

The Outsider, tilted his head, his frown relaxing somewhat as his expression changed to one of mirth. He almost seemed wistful. It was Corvo's turn to frown.

“You’re going to show Emily this place aren’t you?”  
  


“You found this place by yourself, but not without invite.” the Outsider looked up at the circling whales,

“They were witness to this event all those years ago and have been my company ever since. But yes, I will bring Emily here myself.”  
  


The Outsider smiled at the mention of Emily name. It did not pass Corvo’s attention.

“You have said you don’t play favourites but you seem very taken with what my daughter does and how she does it. All those years ago you only ever appeared to me in dreams or in visions at your shrines. I never went here directly. But you have given her information and guidance, brought her here it seems many times and seem thrilled at her choices.”  
  


The Outsider vanished from in front of Corvo, his last expression one that almost appeared proud. He reappeared next to a swirling portal at the end of the jutting rock face.

“The spark I saw in you Corvo all those years ago, is a raging fire within her. I see so many dark pathways she could travel in her choices, yet she surprises me each time. It is refreshing. In all my years watching people it is a rare thing.”  
  


He vanished leaving Corvo to the portal. But Corvo knew if there was any chance to see Emily again he would have to stay close by. The whales seemed to sense this and stayed high above, circling the area. He noticed one of the jagged obsidian spikes rose much higher than any of the others and if he could reach the top he could view below without Emily seeing him. So he climbed, using Blink and his own strength to pull himself to the very top. There he waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO this is my way of explaining why The Outsider does NOT look 15 and putting a little more into how he became the Void's god. In descriptions, The Outsider mentions he was found at 15 and subjected to rituals to see if he was the chosen one. He does not state he was killed at 15. He is quite non specific there. To me he looks in his early 20s, the signs of that age are on his skin. So to me those rituals could have lasted a long time, where he was subjected to torture and conditioning. The song mentions abuse and being caged.
> 
> edited to fit new narrative of later story..only minor changes.


	4. Where the Dark Things Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Corvo witnesses the true depth of feeling between his daughter and the god of the Void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slight stretch away from canon here for the purposes of the Emsider relationship I will develop. I think of it as a massage of how the Outsider behaved in the second game towards the canon protagonist
> 
> Also Title of this chapter is of a song by same name, by the artist Kerli. I recommend a listen as its one of the playlist for my emsider ship.

* * *

Corvo rested on his stomach, his hands propping up his head as he kept watch below. He could easily see everything under him and would be able to listen in as well. But he was hidden from view if someone were to look up. He figured if The Outsider didn’t want him there, he would be removed. But so far he hadn’t moved from the spot. The whales were circling quite close, spinning and twisting in an enchanting display as if to entertain him whilst he waited. He knew something was about to happen when they all moved away in unison.  
  


His assumption was correct. All of a sudden he saw Emily appear almost above him, yanked from where ever she was and falling towards the abyss below, he craned his neck down to see The Outsider patiently waiting for her to get close and then reaching out to grab her arm.

The moment seemed to freeze as the Outsider gently lifted her up, a sly smile spreading across his face before he smoothly let her drop to the ground. She landed in an undignified crumple on the ground, but laughed as she looked up at him. As if she expected him to do just that.

He was crouched down now in front of her, telling her the same tale he had told Corvo, if not with even more detail and elaboration. He acted out the same thing on the altar which made Emily run up to him and place her hand on his cheek as he sat up. She told him how sorry she was that he had gone through this so long ago, that even though it happened then, it didn’t mean she couldn’t feel for the boy he was. He leant into it and closed his black eyes before vanishing and standing near the outcrop beyond the altar. Emily followed his movements as he started to pace back and forth, this time not hiding his frustration at what Delilah had done to this place and to him. Emily had gripped his arms then and held them, forcing The Outsider to stand still and sigh slightly, his head bowed. She brought him into a embrace and he let her!

Corvo couldn’t believe his eyes. Emily was telling The Outsider now that she would stop Delilah and fix the mess she had created here and in her world. That it pained her to see The Outsider like this and thanked him for being so open with her. Then informing him, she had stopped the pathetic gang war between the Howlers and Abbey and that she had destroyed the influence of the Abbey here in Karnaca and would see to it, that their corrupted power and lies would be destroyed everywhere under her reign. He held her hands now and brought them to his lips, kissing them gently before opening a portal to somewhere else, telling her he had more to show her. As she walked through, he saw The Outsider glance up directly at Corvo before walking into the portal himself.

Corvo let out the breath he had been holding in as one of the large whales floated to a stop near him. He climbed on to it and collapsed back onto the whale’s back as it swam away.  
  


What the hell had he just witnessed? Was The Outsider in love with his daughter? Was he even capable of such feelings? How was Emily so enraptured with the god? This was too much. Part of him wished he had not just seen what he had witnessed and the other part wanted to grab the Outsider by his shoulders and shake him.

But that was the father part of him and he had to quell it, knowing his over protectiveness had gotten him into a number of heated arguments with his now very much adult, empress daughter. But, before they were all human suitors for her hand. Ones he could spy on and know every little detail about as was his duty as Royal Protector. Wyman had been the closest to Emily’s heart but even they had not managed to break through completely, now Wyman didn’t stand a chance against a god.

An actual god, the one despised by The Abbey of the Everyman, who branded anyone who curried favour with the god a heretic, he looked to all intents and purposes to be courting his daughter. Corvo dropped his hand over his eyes as he was carried through the Void back to his grounding place.

The Outsider knew he had been watching, which was obvious now. He always knew where Corvo was. Why had he wanted him to see that? Was it easier than speaking to him? He had never disliked The Outsider during his time as a fugitive. Accepting his gift of the Mark and appreciating the help, guidance and company that carried him through his journey. But this was something else. Was The Outsider now trying to win his favour by showing Corvo…that.  
  


He reached the familiar spot within the Void and Blinked off the whale’s back nodding back to the leviathan as it glided away with the others. He went and sat over the edge of the rock as he was want to do, letting his legs dangle and he leant back on his elbows, looking up into the misty expanse above him. He slowed his breathing, closing his eyes, to try and meditate as Emily had taught him. She above all, knew what he had gone through and that his anger bubbled always underneath the surface. His heated Serkonian blood she said, blood she shared. After each sparring and training session, where they had fought without equal or restraint, she had taken him to one of the quiet gardens and sat, teaching him breathing exercises. It had helped so much and brought them even closer together as father and daughter. His love for her was unmatched and he would protect her to the death. But what she did with her life was her choice and he had to accept that.  
  


He felt the familiar tingle in the air as The Outsider materialised near him. He opened his eyes slowly and searched for the black eyed god. Who now stood a little way away, his hands behind his back, his head tilted slightly towards Corvo. His face impassive but his eyes glittering.

“Be careful what you wish for Corvo, You wanted to see your daughter with me, to see how she would behave or you wouldn’t have tried to hide yourself. Because of your correct suspicion, your duty to protect her. Did you really expect anything else?”  
  


Corvo looked away again and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath. This was The Outsider he knew well, whispering a biting comment to get him to act. It had worked so well during his time as an assassin, taking down the enemies that dared harm his daughter. But now he was older, wiser and little more tired.

“What ever is happening, I don’t want to know. She is a grown woman. I just hope she knows what she is doing.”  
  


“Would you like to see Corvo?

Came his voice, now close enough to make Corvo open his eyes to find the source. The Outsider was crouching down next to him, his hand out in a mirror of the first time. This time Corvo snorted under his breath and stood by himself as the Outsider smirked and walked towards a flat wall of obsidian. He waved his hand and suddenly Corvo could see Emily surrounded by a number of people. He recognised Sokolov, though he looked so much older than he remembered, but the others were a mystery. There was a dark skinned woman and a middle aged man with her around a large table out on the deck of the ship he knew she called sanctuary.  
  


“Emily stands with most of her allies. Good and fair Aramis Stilton, the man she saved from his own fate, that caused time itself to change. For the better I might add. Meagan Foster, a woman with another name and destiny and as you know, Anton Sokolov. Her other allies help from their places of shelter. She is about to go face the Duke himself. Her last step before she returns to Dunwall and faces Delilah herself.

Corvo watched as the scene before him played out. He listened as Emily went over every detail to infiltrate the Duke's Grand Palace, listening to her council carefully and thanking each one for their help. He saw her then move to the prow of the ship and stare out at the Karnacan vista. It was as beautiful as he remembered, the sun just beginning to set over Shindaerey peak, casting gold, red and purple across the sky and the ocean. The Outsider glanced over to where Emily was staring and looked away. To him it looked quite different.

Corvo noticed she was rubbing her left hand, tracing her fingers over the Mark there, her eyes now closed. It almost seemed as if she was thinking a silent prayer and it made Corvo tense slightly. No, no, he had to remind himself, she was probably just going over her plan. She had a nervous tick of rubbing her hands when over thinking. She then went over to the woman Meagan and left with her on a small skiff towards the shore. The image faded away on the wall behind once more and the Outsider moved to stand next to Corvo.

“Everything she has done so far has led to this moment. What she does now will change the fate of Serkonos itself for many years to come. She goes now to the Grand Palace. I wonder if she will feel a little more at home amongst it’s grandeur or whether spending time with the common folk has given her a new perspective on life.”

He spoke the last words with a smile on his lips. He knew she had seen the worst life had to offer people, forced upon them by those in power. Had seen how it had opened her eyes and changed her mindset. She now wasn’t just doing this to get her throne back, but to set about making changes that would ripple across her empire. He glanced once more towards the Karnacan landscape and sighed.

“Everything ends Corvo. Everything has a new beginning. I hope you will remember that when the time comes.”

Corvo glanced at the Outsider as he walked towards the edge of the plateau, his face seemed almost sad. He looked lost in his own thoughts.

“I have great admiration for your daughter Corvo. She had done incredible things, changed from the kind but spoilt empress into a woman of power and respect. One I think will lead the empire into new heights. If she continues on the path she has set out. I don’t know what she’ll do when she faces Delilah but it will be most exciting to watch.”  
  


He vanished leaving Corvo to his own thoughts. The Outsider had openly admitted he admired his daughter. That was high praise indeed coming from a god known for his neutrality and ambiguous nature. But just before he vanished he seemed to Corvo to be resigned to a unknown fate. One he cared not to share with anyone.


	5. A Witch's Vengeance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emily fights her way back to the Throne as The Outsider watches. Corvo decides on one last whale back ride to hide his nerves.

* * *

The Outsider leant back against the stone wall and watched as Corvo slept, knowing soon, if all went well, his spirit would be rejoined back with his mortal body out in the other world. He looked up and a ghost of smile played on his lips as he watched the whales slowly circle high above their new friend.

“He’s a more agreeable guest than the last one don’t you agree,” he quietly said to them.  
  


Corvo stirred and opened his eyes, sitting up to look at the god watching him intently from the plateau’s edge.

“It seems dear Emily has chosen a new Duke to run Serkonos. Luca Abele is no more. I think you might not approve of her choice at first, we will see wont we. She is soon to arrive in Dunwall, at the quayside by Tower Approach, on her way to face Delilah and see what she has done to her beloved city. Much is on her mind, but right now her focus is on one thing. Removing Delilah from power so she can save you.”  
  


Corvo sat up straight now, running his hands through his hair and taking a deep breath. Soon this would end, his time in the Void and in the not unwelcome company of The Outsider. Though he had a feeling this would not be the last he would see of the god, it was good to know he would see his daughter again soon. He glanced up at the dancing whales over him and smiled sadly before looking towards The Outsider.

“Even though these leviathans keep you company here, I feel you must be the loneliest person I know. Time passes differently here for you to be able to cope with it. This must be why you are often so cold to those you come across. That’s why you abandon your Marked for so long. I get it now. To gain attachment is to fear it’s loss. But I want to tell you one very important thing. Don’t hurt my daughter. Don't abandon her.”  
  


The Outsider turned his face towards the whales then back to Corvo, his expression unreadable. So Corvo stood and walked to the end of the plateau to join the Void god.

“Thank you for this though, saving me from being locked in that stone’s embrace, to suffer being trapped in your own mind. That is a fate I’d wish on no one. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to spend once last time on the back of one of our friends up there before I leave here. It is too much of an incredible experience to miss. You’ll call me back when it is time."  
  


The Outsider watched with a knowing look. What Corvo had just said, he would not truly understand the depth of it’s meaning to the god, not yet. He nodded and the female whale he had seen before now came to rest so Corvo could simply climb up her side to sit on her back. She had a calf with her this time, it’s bright curious eyes watching this unusual human. Corvo smiled at the calf and soon he was off into the Void’s mists to fly amongst the great leviathans one last time.  
  


\--------------------------  
  


The Outsider vanished to reappear in the most ancient of places in the Void, a great stone pillar surrounded by a lake of dark water. The surface so black it was like the pools of his own eyes. This was a place of great and terrible power. He did not venture towards the great splinter within the pillar though, instead sitting on a stone plateau nearby, watching now through his eyes, events unfold over Dunwall.  
  


When Emily had arrived she had been shocked to see her city so devastated by Delilah. Buildings lay destroyed or abandoned, the people had long ago fled the district with only a few hiding behind barred doors. She had stopped briefly at the newspaper office to speak once more to the journalist she had saved when she fled the city all those months ago. Promising him the story of his life should she survive, and then learning the tale of what had transpired after she had left, from a frightened local hiding in an alley.

She had witnessed for herself the massacre of the Overseers and smirked mirthlessly at them. It seemed the entirety of their order had come down from Whitecliff and were now dead outside the gates, her only sympathy with the wolfhounds which died with their masters. One sole Overseer survivor had cursed her as she told him how she was going to take Delilah down. _One heretic to destroy another_ he had said. Yes let this be a witch against witch, for what was she if not that. But as the old tales had told. It was what you did with magic that mattered. Magic was not evil itself, it was how you used it.  
  


Inside Dunwall Tower, Emily had discovered Delilah’s plan and had created a corrupted human rune but her thoughts were with what The Outsider had told her about Daud and how he'd saved her back when she was still a child. How Delilah had been trapped through one of her paintings and how she had escaped. Emily thought to herself that she would make up her mind on what to do,when she came across her aunt and had chance to see her terrible plan.

The heart she now carried, no longer whispered loving words carried on the ghostly voice of her mother, now Delilah’s taunting lilt threatened her with her end. She bravely carried on through the ruin of her palace, saying a silent eulogy for all her loyal subjects slaughtered.

She entered the throne room now and crept up behind Delilah, pointing the blackened Heart Towards her. A blinding light blasted from it as Delilah had her spirit and her mortality returned to her. Emily was knocked back by the force and then Delilah was in the air hovering in front of a huge painting. A warped image of the Tower and city with Delilah as it's adored monarch. She taunted Emily then vanished into the painting which glowed and undulated with it’s portal to a twisted part of the Void Delilah had corrupted at it's centre. Emily briefly stopped to caress her cold father’s cheek, promising to return before creeping through the portal into Delilah’s world.  
  


\---------------------------  
  


The Outsider lost his sight on Emily in that moment and it troubled him greatly. He could see forever and everything yet this was barred to him. He summoned Corvo back to his side, the man appearing almost instantly upon the whale’s back as it swam through the mists. Corvo climbed down and ran his hand gently over the whales side under it’s eye. It blinked slowly and then moved away, it’s calf singing and swirling around her side.  
  
”Is it time?” Corvo asked with a shaky breath, his nerves showing. He looked around at this part of The Void he had never seen before and the weird vast pillar disappearing into the nothingness beyond the Outsider. It made him shiver and he had to withdraw his gaze. He noticed The Outsider’s brow was deeply furrowed, his concentration on something only he could see. His black eyes squinting in focus.

“This is the moment, when Emily triumphs or fails. She is in Delilah’s _perfect_ world now and I cannot see it and i don't like it.” He stood up and began pacing, his hand rubbing the skin under his nose in frustration, a decidedly human movement.

“Delilah’s been waiting for her, laid a trap and now it’s up to Emily to …Oh!”  
  


He stared at nothing as Corvo came rushing over to his side.

“What?? What do you see? Tell me!” Corvo said with a panic, as he gripped The Outsider’s shoulders. The god glanced at him, with a smile on his lips.  
  


“You’ll soon see for yourself. When you wake in your world, you will eventually remember all of this. My gift to you. But dear Corvo, allow Emily to tell her story to you.

Farewell old friend.”  
  


\----------------------------  
  


Corvo’s vision darkened and the next time he opened his eyes it was to look upon his daughter, who gently cradled his face with her hand. He felt disorientated and groggy as if waking from a long sleep, looking around to see the devastation of the throne room and Delilah’s dead body on the floor. Up against a wall, a burning painting lit up the room and Emily grinned as she hugged her very much alive and well father. He returned the embrace, squeezing so tightly she had to tap his back to relax.

“What happened?” He said with a croaky dry, long unused voice, breaking the hug and looking down at the witch’s body.  
  


Emily, glanced down at the corpse and stood back, taking a deep breath and scowling when she saw her desecrated throne.

“She had arranged a trap for me, but I guessed what she had planned and instead took her by surprise. I was going to use her own magic against her, but there was too much chance she would break out of it again, So I drove your sword through her heart and then across her throat. She’ll never harm us again. Her reign is over. Mine has just truly begun. Father there is so much I want to tell you, so much I’ve seen and done. I’ve learnt and realised many things. The Outsider, he…he gave me his Mark. Please don’t be mad. I couldn’t have done half of what I did without it, without him.”  
  


Before Corvo could speak, The Outsider appeared as if summoned by his mention and time froze around the pair. He walked slowly across the throne room, glancing around and then kneeling over Delilah’s body.

“A pity, such a wasted life. If only her will had been directed to more productive means than bitter vengeance.”

He stood then and sauntered to Emily and Corvo, his hands gesturing to them both.

“Look at the pair of you, The Empress and her loyal father, in your rightful palace once more after a terrible struggle to reclaim what was lost. We are all made by the things that are taken from us. You two more than most.”

Looking round once more, his eyes scanning over the throne wrapped in his runes and ones made of human bone.

“Delilah certainly did a number on this place. Let me fix that for you.”  
  


All at once, every twisted arcane vine and cursed plant, every witches body and corrupt artefact burst into cold flame and turned to dust. Delilah’s body was engulfed and incinerated and her great painting fell into tiny bits of dust on the floor. The Outsider then walked closer to Emily and took her marked hand in his. He raised it to his lips and kissed it before letting it go and smiling.

“It will start with an end or end in a start. If the woman with the twin blade understands her choice, I will be seeing both of you again soon. Until then. I will be watching.”  
  


He vanished then and Corvo tried to look like the grumpy father, but he couldn’t help but smirk at his daughter looking flushed.

“I can explain.” she said worried. Corvo just took her arm and brought her into another hug, glad to just be alive and with her. He knew what she had gone through, remembered it all now. But was more than happy to hear her tell her tale. Though when she suddenly blurted out who she had chosen as the new Duke of Serkonos, his mouth gaped open in shock.

Emily sat him down on the throne room steps and explained her decision to him, hoping he would understand.

“I thought about letting Abele’s double take over and his heart was good but I don’t think he has the strength to lead. It's a pity, he’s vanished now and is probably trying to forget what he ever was. No, after thinking it through, you are the best choice I can think of. You are battle hardened but fair, you’ve walked the highest halls but lived amongst the lowest people. I know how much you miss your homeland. Your royal chambers are full of pictures of Karnaca, that to me speaks so much about your yearning. I understand, as I fell in love with the city too, though the blood flies can burn. I know you wont want to leave so soon after the coup, but you know I can take care of myself. But you wont be leaving yet, you have to help me clear up this mess and then there are ceremonies to perform, laws to bring in and I have to give you your new title. The press are going to love that one!”

She winked as his brows almost squeezed together in exasperation.

“For the time being, a council had been formed in Karnaca to prepare for your arrival. Good people who you will work with to help you into your new role. Aramis Stilton and Lucia Pastor will bring the concerns of the miners to you, Dr Hypatia, the new court physician will work on efforts to bring the blood fly menace under control, and an old man called Lupo, who had once been a beggar on the streets and had given me the best advice at every turn. He will be your ear to the streets. To keep you grounded and make sure you know the concerns of the lowest in the city. Even the Howlers under Mindy Blanchard will assist in the improvement efforts. She’s amazingly a more calm influence on the gang and I think under her they have become a force for good.”  
  


Corvo listened as Emily laid it all down. She had had time to think through every argument on the way back to Gristol. He didn’t want to leave her it was true, not after losing her for so long again. But part of him was excited at seeing his home city once more. Dunwall had good memories but also held such bad ones. Every time he walked through the palace gardens and came upon the gazebo that contained his beloved’s memorial, he saw her body on the marble floor. He glimpsed her face every time he walked through the palace as he stopped at places they had shared happy moments together those many years ago.

“All right Emily, I acquiesce to your proposal.” He said with a warm smile. It was no good arguing with her when she had made up her mind and to be honest he was flattered if a little scared.

“Now, if that’s the last thing you want to surprise me with, I want to thank those that helped you back to me. They will be safe to come here now. You could send word to them.”  
  


Emily chewed her bottom lip.

“The Dreadful Wale has gone. I came here on my own knowing the captain didn’t want to stay here a moment longer. I know Anton wanted to say farewell but he left with her to head home to Tyvia. I can send word to him if you like?”  
  


Corvo seemed puzzled. This woman had been a constant fixture in Emily’s time in exile and now she had vanished without a trace. He had an uneasy feeling.

“Who was she Emily?”  
  


Emily began rubbing her hands together, trying to work out how to explain.

"Before I say who she is, I want you to know how much she helped me, if not for her I wouldn’t be here now. I’d be trapped here, probably dead. She rescued me and helped bring down the traitors who supported Delilah. But like many people she has a past, one she had run from and she’s tried to change her life. So now knowing that, well, her real name is Billie Lurk and she ran with Daud long ago as one of The Whalers. She was there when Daud took mother’s life. She left him before you came across him though. But did you know father, Daud actually saved my life many years ago. Another of Delilah’s schemes that would have worked if the Outsider hadn’t stepped in. I think some part of Daud broke the day he killed my mother and saving me from a living nightmare was his attempt at repentance. From what I learnt after I last spoke to her, I think she is going to go look for Daud now."  
  


Corvo nodded in thought on her words. Now it made sense. It seemed anyone touched by that event all those years ago, became connected by a thread of fate. All tied together through The Outsider. He reached forward then, and took Emily’s marked hand, brushing his thumb over the seared symbol. Emily looked down at his left hand and noticed his Mark had returned too.

“Didn’t Delilah remove this? I swore I saw her do it?” she said as she pointed at his hand. It was Corvo’s turn to think what he wanted to say.

“I guess, The Outsider wanted to return his gift that was removed by her. I have a feeling he doesn’t like his work being meddled with. When Delilah ripped it away, I was scared Emily. I could fight off any soldier but magic, that’s harder to win against and she was so powerful. I’m glad you accepted this and didn’t abuse it. So many marked have. You’ll have to show me what abilities you have. Somewhere private of course, the Abbey wont be happy to find two heretics running the show.”  
  


Emily’s eyes went dark. The mere mention of the Abbey made her blood boil.

“They wont be a problem for much longer father. Their back is broken. I will order the dissolution of the Abbey and plan to confiscate all of their treasures and secrets under treason against the Empire. I have seen too much corruption in their order, the lies they peddle to consolidate their power under fear and the meddling they have attempted to wield to gain more authority over the people. People will be free to follow their strictures if they so wish, but once they hear what the official proclamation and the press will put out, I don’t think they’ll care to. I don’t plan to suddenly create temples to The Outsider father, don’t worry. Magic can be a corrupting force, just as dogma can be. People will be free to do as they wish as long as it harms no one else. We will keep these Marks covered and secret though, I don’t want people thinking I’m doing this because well, because of this.” She said as she rubbed her Mark.  
  


Corvo was impressed. He despised the Abbey since seeing their corruption during his time as an assassin. But it was so hard to lower their influence when Emily was returned to the Throne. There had been an investigation by the Abbey into the Empress’s assassination and loyalist coup as they had heard whispers of dark magic used to kill Jessamine and then to bring Emily back. Piero Joplin had created a strong makeup paste for Corvo to use to paint over his mark to hide it even without gloves or wraps. It had worked, the Abbey had no evidence to use against him. But he knew they had watched him and he’d been so careful, for Emily and his sake. Now he would live to see the Abbey finally crumble to ruin. Their corruption gone from the empire at last.

Corvo stood then, helping Emily to her feet.

“Well that i cant wait to help with. Right then, we have work to do your Majesty. Let’s fix this empire and you can tell me all about how you saved it whilst you gallivanted across my home city.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's the end of the first part of my series. I hope you liked it. 
> 
> I always thought the stone we saw in the void looked like volcanic glass, like Obsidian. Black Obsidian is in crystal healing theory the stone of the spirit, a strongly protective stone, that can help divine the future and cleanse the aura of psychic attack. It can also help those who suffer grief, overcome it. A suitable stone for the mystical realm of The Void don't you think. 
> 
> You can tell, i LOATHE the Abbey of the Everyman. They are to me like the Spanish Inquisition or the Witch-hunters who plagued the west. Fanatics who abuse belief to control,dominate and wantonly murder. The strictures are very similar to catholic doctrine and i find that religion's dogma distasteful as well. The theories and ideas behind some are thoughtful and good but they are prone to abuse and fabrication. I hated how the Abbey had an army of zealots who abused, tortured and killed people they thought might be heretical. How they stole children off the street or from families and brainwashed and conditioned them to become those zealots.  
> I'm glad canon is that Emily dissolved the Abbey. 6 months after DOTO, the Oracular order is wiped out by the Overseers themselves for what they saw and kept telling people about. Which means the Abbey is still around for a little while longer before it too is destroyed from within. I'll be speeding that up for narrative purposes in the next part of the series.


End file.
